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Board adopts budget framework, restores staff and raises interpreter pay after lengthy debate
Summary
The board adopted the superintendent's FY27 budget as the basis for the board request, approved technical amendments and voted to restore a number of staff positions (including special‑education conversions, high‑school paraeducators and middle‑school media paraeducators), added multilingual teacher positions and science-of-reading training, and set interpreter pay to $40/hour after debate over summer programming and safety staff.
The Howard County Board of Education on Feb. 19 advanced the FY27 budget process by adopting the superintendent’s recommended FY27 budget as the basis for the board’s requested budget and approving multiple technical adjustments, restorations and additions to staffing and programs.
On procedural votes early in the afternoon, the board adopted the superintendent’s recommended budget as the board’s baseline budget for submission to the county (motion carried 7‑0). Staff then presented technical revenue and expenditure adjustments tied to updated state aid estimates, local revenue projections and a set of expenditure corrections. After a procedural amendment to separate a summer‑school revenue estimate, the board approved three technical revenue adjustments (including updated state aid and MSDE-related changes) and a package of technical expenditure adjustments. CFO Brian Hall summarized the net effect as roughly $7.6 million in additional capacity when combined with the other proposed restorations and additions.
Special education: Doctor Webster explained how a $4 million placeholder for special education would be converted into 43 specific positions (19 paraeducators, 16 special education teachers, 4…
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